Page Nine

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Russell Pearce is interviewed by IC Arizona. Get his side of the story without the spin and theatrics of the biased local media.

Q. What happened that caused this media fury?

A. During The Russell Pearce Show on KKNT radio 960 The
Patriot, on September 6th, I read a “rant” by a lady from
Texas about the abuse of the welfare state we have become.
It is a “rant” that has been around for several years. I
do not agree with all of her solutions to the problem, but
did understand her anger and frustration of the abuse.
However, apparently I did not make it crystal clear that
it was a “rant” and not my own words. For that I
apologize. Anyone can go to google and type in “put me in
charge of welfare” and pull up her rant.

Q. What was your intent in reading it?

A. The purpose of radio is to push debate and have
meaningful conversations about what is right with America
and what needs to be fixed. This was an example of the
frustrations felt by many Americans and to what extent
they would go to fix the problem.

Q. Explain again why you did not make it clear it was a
rant?

A. Simply, I moved on too quickly. I have one hour for the
radio show, and it never seems to be enough time to get
through all of what needs to be discussed. I simply
realized after it was too late that I had neglected to
mention it as a “rant” from a lady in Texas. As I ended
the show, I asked Ashley who takes the callers for me, if
I had failed to mention the author of the rant. She
indicated I had.

Q. Do you advocate for, or have you ever advocated for the
“sterilization” for women?

A. Certainly not. I have six sisters and six brothers; my
wife is one of seven children, and we have five children
and 18 grandchildren. We love children and large families.
It was an attempt to show the frustration of Americans who
observe abuse by those on socialist programs across this
nation, where hard-working Americans are overtaxed to pay
for those who take advantage. Just like Ronald Reagan
said, “the best solution … is a job.”

Q. Where do you stand on welfare or entitlement programs?

A. I believe that responsibility should be with family,
church and community, not with government programs of
redistribution of other people’s property. Welfare
programs should never be a way of life.

Q. Why did you resign after this happened as 1st Vice
Chair State GOP?

A. As an unapologetic conservative, I've stood up for the
rule of law and our constitutional freedoms. I love this
great Republic, and have loved serving Arizona and my
service with the Republican Party. However, because of the
liberal media’s attempt to take what was not my comments,
and use them inappropriately against Republican
candidates, I thought it best to step down and do what is
right for the party. I was elected twice as 1st Vice Chair
of the state GOP by overwhelming numbers. I have great
support by party faithful, but because I shared comments
written by someone else and failed to attribute them to
the author immediately, that was a mistake. This mistake
has been run with by the liberal media and the Democrats
in an attempt hurt our Republican candidates. I do not
want the progressive left and the liberal media to take a
misstatement from my show and use it to attack our
candidates. I care about the Republican Party and its
conservative platform too much to let them do that. Yet I
have to recognize that hosting a radio show and the nature
of the debates that we have had and will continue to have
are incompatible with what our party needs from its
leadership team. For that reason, I submitted my
resignation as a vice chairman of the Republican Party.

I want to make this perfectly clear: I will never back
down from standing up for what I believe is right, and I
will continue to fight for the principles that our
Founding Fathers and others have committed their lives,
their fortunes and their sacred honor for, and in many,
many cases paid the ultimate price with their lives. But I
have no intention of being used as a distraction by the
Democrats looking to escape responsibility for their
failed policies. It is time to return the focus to where
it belongs, and that is the direction that our state and
country should be headed towards.

I
fight every single day for the preservation of this
Republic, stopping the gangster government in D.C. and
here in Arizona, defending the unborn, property rights,
the Second Amendment, secure borders, strict enforcement
of our immigration laws (attrition by enforcement), school
choice, parental rights, lower taxes, reduced regulation,
our God-given Freedoms and state sovereignty as intended
by our Founders.

I have spent my whole life defending this Constitutional
Republic and make no apologies for it. I pray for the
vigilant few who continue to stand for freedom and moral
values. As an Arizona State Legislator and president of
the Arizona State Senate, I have been able to write and
get passed some of the most sweeping and comprehensive
legislation in the nation to stop illegal hiring (worksite
enforcement and protecting American jobs and the honest
employer), no public benefits for illegals, and the first
state to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
I am the proud sponsor of SB1070, Employer Sanctions, The
Freedom To Carry Act, Castle Doctrine, Self-Defense
Display, Proposition 107 to stop government discrimination
by eliminating affirmative action in Arizona, just to name
a few. I believe that is why I am attacked by the left and
open border pro-amnesty crowd with such anger and
vigilance.

I have tried to serve my country honorably my entire life.
I am a veteran with a honorable discharge from the Army
National Guard. I served 23 years with Maricopa County
Sheriff’s Office and as Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s chief deputy;
In fact, I spent most of my career in law enforcement and
as a judge. I have been shot at and missed, and shot at
and hit, and in fact was critically wounded in the line of
duty. I have two sons in law enforcement, and one of them
also has been critically wounded in the line of duty (shot
by an illegal immigrant). Enough is enough.

Q. What is your personal position on welfare?

A. Again, there is no place in the Constitution for the
redistribution of wealth. I understand the challenges out
there, and I know we are a good and generous people, but
citizens have a constitutional right to keep their own
property. At a minimum, it should not be a way of life.

Q. How are things going in your new job at the Maricopa
County Treasurer’s Office helping senior citizens?

A. I am blessed to work with such a wonderful group of
folks who actually care about the taxpayer and work hard
to make sure their money is safe. We all understand that
we as Americans are over taxed. Like Ronald Reagan said,
to paraphrase, “The problem is not that Americans live to
well, but government is living too well.” I actually enjoy
my work and am spending considerable time helping senior
citizens on limited and fixed incomes stay in their homes
through a program sponsored by the Treasurer to help them
pay property tax through an Elder Assistance Program, as
property taxes continue to rise through overrides and
special taxing districts, putting our seniors who are low
income at risk of losing their homes.

Q. What do you see for the future of the Republican Party?

A. I love this party and what it stands for. The problem
is the politicians who break our hearts. This is the party
of the people. This is the party of traditional values and
constitutional freedoms. However, we elect those that run
as Ronald Reagan conservatives and then vote like Jimmy
Carter liberals. If you run as a Republican, you should be
required to vote like a Republican. 80 percent of our
party are real patriots. For the first time I can recall,
we just “censured” a sitting U.S. Senator for ignoring our
party principles, and that vote was at a mandatory meeting
where 90 percent of the elected state committeemen voted
to censure him. We often have great disdain for our
elected officials, and that is because they fail to keep
their promises. That is divisive and destructive to this
party. We have some of our solid conservative patriots
leaving the party and looking for a more conservative
party, or just going independent because of these “RINOs”
if you will. We must take back our party and make our
folks and America proud. I am proud to be an American and
will continue to work to strengthen this party and hold
elected officials accountable to our platform. If we
don’t, we will destroy this party from within. I call on
all constitution loving Americans to join me in keeping
this party the party of Reagan and one that we can count
on.

1 comment:

I was disgusted by how fast some Republicans, especially current candidates, were to condemn Russell... before even getting the facts.

My husband and I have recently changed to Independant. My husband had been a Republican for close to 50 years. We will no longer vote for people who disgust us simply to tow the party line. It has just given us more and more RINO's in office when what we need is more people like Mr. Pearce.